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How far back in time can you understand English? (www.deadlanguagesociety.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Chromebby@lemmy.world to c/neat@lemmy.world
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Very entertaining. I’m totally lost around 1400. I don’t even recognize 1200 as English lol.

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[-] morto@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Only after languages were institutionalized and formal education became more common, that the languages sort of stabilized and the rate of change became slower. Back then, languages were more "freestyle" and people sometimes didn't even properly understand each other

this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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